Left Coast Pilot

Here in California’s Central Valley, we’re blessed with good weather—most of the time. A lot of local pilots get along without an instrument rating. That works for about nine months of the year. In the winter and spring, though, they can’t fly all that much.

From the end of November through the middle of February, more often than not, the valley is shrouded in fog—frequently, very thick fog. My wife jokes that we’ve had our share of white Christmases since moving here, but in our case the white starts about two feet above the ground…